52 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



man}^ of the collections were destroyed because they were not deemed 

 of as much value as other things which were on board. 



After his return to his native city Prince Maximilian worked over 

 his collections and other material with the aid of a number of experts, 

 and published several papers upon his results. In 1843 he published his 

 "Systematic View of Plants Collected on a Tour on the Missouri River." 

 His collections are preserved in the museum of his native city, where he 

 died in 1867. 



Martius honored him by naming a genus of Brazilian and West In- 

 dian palms, Maximiliana, thus very appropriately connecting him with 

 the botany of that country, of which he was one of the pioneer explorers. 



Hardly had Prince Maximilian started for home before another 

 explorer was at work on the Missouri. This person was none other 

 than Thomas Nuttall, the greatest botanist of this country in his time. 

 As has been already mentioned, he had visited this section in company 

 with John Bradbury in 1811. 



Thomas KuttalP^ was born in the town of Settle, England, in the 

 year 1786. His parents were in very moderate circumstances, and the 

 boy was early apprenticed to a printer. After several years he had a 

 disagreement with his employer and went to London seeking for work. 

 Here he came very near total destitution. When about twenty-two 

 years of age he emigrated to America, landing in Philadelphia. Dur- 

 ing his youth he so improved his spare moments that he acquired an 

 intimate knowledge of the Latin and Greek languages, and he seems to 

 have studied other branches, as he was described at the time of his 

 landing as " a well-informed 3'oung man, knowing the history of his 

 country, and somewhat familiar with some branches of natural history, 

 and even with Latin and G-reek." Nuttall knew nothing of botany at 

 this time, but very soon after he became interested in the " amiable 

 science," and also began an acquaintance with Dr. Benjamin Smith 

 Barton. His studies of plants naturally led him into making short 

 excursions which soon lengthened as his interest deepened, until he had 

 visited the lower part of the Delaware peninsula and the coast region 

 of Virginia and North Carolina. 



At about this time Nuttall became acquainted with John Bradbury, 

 and he eagerly proposed to accompany him on his trip up the Missouri 

 River. Accordingly,Nuttall joined Bradbury at St. Louis, and early 



"Short, C. W., Transylvania Jour, of Med., etc., 34: 14-16, 1836. 

 Meehan, Thos., Gardeners' Monthly, 2: 21-23, 1863. 

 Durand, Elias, Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc., 7: 297-315, 1860. 

 Sargent, C. S., " Silva of North America," 2: 34, 1891. 

 Britten, Jas., and Boulger, G. S., " Biographical Index of British and 

 Irish Botanists," 129, 1893. 



Anonymous, Pop. Sci. Monthly, 46: 689-696, 1895. 

 Harshberger, J. W., " Botanists of Philadelphia," 151-159, 1899. 



